Within the design build industry there have been attempts to construct an on site dome using carpenters and scaffold. The results have been marginal at best in achieving a uniform roof system such as a dome. While absorbing high labor costs and excessive waste of materials the outcome is often unpredictable both in the control of the craftsmanship and the conveyance of strength through the system. This kind of performance gives the Architect or designer a real challenge. How can he project his finishes when there is such little control of the materials?
The solution is to use a Dome Kit of the type provided by the present invention. The kit has a uniform system of parts that when assembled into a dome shaped structural system, does provide a predictable cost and understandable resolve in dimensions, strength and options for aesthetic and code related concerns. In using the Dome Kit you can determine the response needed to handle loads and other reactive forces acting through the roof diaphragm. This is particularly useful to professional engineers in designing and constructing dome shaped structural systems, i.e. structural systems that are dome shaped, and designed to handle the types of loading to which building structures are subjected.
The placement of a dome shaped structural system produced with a Dome Kit, according to the present invention, may be used as an integrated system within other roofing systems commonly associated with the residential and commercial building industry. It can be used creatively in achieving a variety of interior environments and exterior elevations. The Dome Kit responds to the larger building industry as well as the home owner or do-it-yourself individual. The Dome Kit offers a predictable project cost and provides many other options.
In the concrete monolithic type dome the routing of mechanical air supply ducting or electrical fixture distribution is not possible. The same goes for the plastic and glass domes. The concrete, plastic and glass domes have an absence of insulation quality and an inability to integrate easily into adjacent horizontal and vertical building assemblies. The Dome Kit allows options in each of these areas. The compression ring at the top of the dome kit also offers an opening for a skylight or a cupola.
The Dome Kit was developed from the applicant's personal need to have such a product. As a designer and builder the applicant could not find such a product from the market that serves the building industry. Applicant also wanted to satisfy the following objectives;
1. Create a uniform building system for dome shaped structural systems.
2. Provide the Architect, the Builder and the Home Owner, a kit for building a dome shaped structural system that can be specified in the proposed building plans and be successfully incorporated into a building structure.
3. Provide options for mechanical, electrical and natural light systems within a dome type structure. A dome shaped structural system produced from the Dome Kit preferably includes ribs that are formed of wood and have spaces between adjacent ribs, so that mechanical, electrical and/or natural light systems can be located in those spaces, and, if desired, conveniently connected to the ribs.4. To satisfy the 2000 International Residential Code with the ability for an R-38 insulation value that within the dome becomes contiguous and equal to the insulation value in the adjoining roof assembly.5. To assign a predetermined strength to the individual components of the Dome Kit, whereby the options for varied elevations and diameters of dome shaped structural systems produced from the Dome Kit can be achieved easily.6. To have options for achieving exterior finishes based on the project budget, project setting and overall aesthetic intent. This can be readily carried out knowing that a dome shaped structural system produced from the “Dome Kit” can be roofed with multiple choices in roofing systems.
These and other features of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
At the end of the following detailed description there is a Parts List of the various parts that are illustrated in the Figures and referenced in the detailed description.